how do you feel about those bucket carseats for newborns?

[polishprinsezz]

i find them to be a waste of money. people seem to love those things. they can cart their baby everywhere without ever having to touch the baby.i saw a carseat at wal-mart that is for 5-40lbs. it means that you actually have to hold your baby when you go places. thats why baby slings are wonderful. and the carseat i want is about $10 cheaper than the bucket.

[thismama]

I think buckets are safest for new babies in the car, no? But that is where I leave mine. With my daughter I only carted her in it if she was passed out or something. It's not as nice as holding them, for sure, and it's a whole lot more awkward and heavy besides. If you get a sling you can put them in the sling into the carseat when it's time to get in the car, if they are sleeping.

[KatWrangler]

I'm not following you. We have a Peg Perego Primo Viagio carseat (which is a bucket that attaches to the base in the car). That doesn't mean you can't get your baby out and into a sling once you stop at your destination.

I r confused this morning.

[KatWrangler]

What ThisMama said.

I think most experts say the buckets are safest for newborns. They say it has too much wiggle room in the convertable seats.

[lovingmommyhood]

Yeah, this will be baby number three for me. All 3 and under. If baby stays in the carseat while I grocery shop it's not because I don't want to "touch" my baby.

Baby slings are wonderful for some but not all. DS2 hated the sling and I don't like wearing one.

[sweetcheeks]

Ditto to thismama. They have their time and place and, unfortunately, some people do misuse them. Also, alot of the convertibles that are marketed to be used from birth on are actually too big for newborns (strap slots are too high on the lowest setting for newborns).

Up in my climate, the infant carriers are a godsend in the winter. Winters here are COLD and I'm not talking "Oh, it's 25*F, we're all going to freeze to death" kind of stuff some people think is cold (that's sweater weather to us ) but 2 week long cold snaps of -40*F/C. Infant carriers are great for the winter. I love that I can take the seat inside to keep it warm and when we get ready to go out, I can get baby snug in there w/some fleece blankets over top and not have to worry about exposing him or her to the extreme cold.

Blah . . . maybe I'm just tired this AM but I get so tired of people implying that people who use infant carriers are doing so just to avoid holding/touching/interacting w/their babies. My infant carrier has been used to keep my baby safe in the car not to avoid touching my baby.

[adtake]

I have negative feeling toward them because of how they are used in this area. Babies are always in them! I have decided with this baby (upon hearing more info on big seats not being good fits for newborns) to go ahead and get a bucket until Christmas time, then ask 'Santa' for a Britax blvd for her. My plan is to not take out of the car either, but I do see times and places where it would be nice. With 3 big brothers I can see me bringing her in the house in the bucket if she's alseep and getting the boys settled before getting her out. And I do like the idea of the seat being warm before sticking her in it. Even in the garage the van is cold.


I've had to really talk with myself and decide it's ok to have a bucket seat.

[VBMama]

Buckets are definitely misused around here, too, but just because you have one doesn't mean that baby always has to stay in it!

I personally prefer a bucket for the itty-bitty months when baby is sleeping so much, and I think it is easier to put an itty-bitty baby in the bucket in the house instead of leaning over the convertible seat in the car. I'm not about to wake up a sleeping baby to put them in a sling when they will otherwise have a good nap through the grocery store. If they are awake, I carry them, if they are asleep, they stay in. I've moved both of mine up into convertibles once they are either a) too heavy for me to want to carry the bucket around (which is still way under the weight limit of the seat), or b) past the point of staying asleep in the bucket while out & about.

[KatWrangler]

Good point about slings. I was not a very good sling Mama with a my first. With my second I was determined to sling her. Well that didn't work well because of her back hurting. Then she had two spinal surgerys.

[kwilki8]

My dd would have been swallowed up by and uncomfortable in her convertible seat because she was so tiny. They may technically be okay for babies at 5 pounds, but I do not think it is the best option for a baby that small.

We used her bucket seat until she was almost a year old. And yes, I loved being able to take my baby into daycare or people's houses without having to wake her (as she almost always was asleep in the car) or get her cold. Like most other baby items, the carrier can be used appropriately or misused.

[KatWrangler]

Speaking of infant carseats. Did you see that Britax and I think one of the Evenflos has a stability bar now? So that if you are in an accident the bar keeps the seat from flying back toward the seat.

If this wasn't my last baby, I definately would consider this.

[*Aimee*]

Oooh we're buying a new companion. We gave our old infant car seat to a friend of a friend who needed it. They are the safest for little babies, and I like that I can keep it in the house in the AC in the summer and in the heat in the winter. But I sling my babies when we're not driving.

[natty529]

Like the OP i am not really fond of baby buckets, i see mothers all the time carrying their baby in a bucket instead of carying ther baby. and it's not like those things are lightweight!
Originally i was just going to get a convertable carseat, but the more i thought about it, newborns are SO small and even in the most secure seat i feel that my baby would flop around a bit.
Also i was thinking that if i got a convertable carseat, it would then have to effect my stroller choice, and i would have to get one that was convertable from pram to stroller- and that would be way too expensive! i don't plan on using the stroller often, especially when my babe is small, but i still need it for sometimes.
i figure when the babe starts to out grow the infant seat, I'll just sell it on craigslist or something.

[clutterbug]

I liked our bucket seat, and we used it right up till DS was at the height/weight limit for it, although we quit carrying him in it to and from the house once spring came, he was too heavy in that thing! I loved being able to get him securely fastened in the seat in the comfort of the house, where you could get him up on a table or the couch and gett a good angle on making sure everything was fasted "just so". And as PP have said, in the winter it was great cause he could be well covered against the cold before we headed out the door.

I miss those days - I hate putting him in seat now...heave him into the seat, lean over, rip off my gloves, pull, click, pull some more...argh! That could just be my pregnant-lady back making me feel that way, I dunno!

We had the whole travel system and did use our stroller. It was great when he fell asleep in the car or stroller, it was easy to shift him back and forth between them without waking him. I carried DS lots in a sling and Mei Tei, but my back wouldn't stand up to carrying him ALL the time, and I had to quit pretty much all sling use after he turned 1 or so because my back was seizing a lot. I think we found a happy medium that worked for us.

[alegna]

The infant seats (buckets) are really the safest for newborns. We used dd's for about 4 months before switching her to a convertible. We will use it again for the new babe.

We rarely took it out of the car. So that part wasn't an issue.

-Angela

[alegna]

Originally Posted by KatWrangler

Speaking of infant carseats. Did you see that Britax and I think one of the Evenflos has a stability bar now? So that if you are in an accident the bar keeps the seat from flying back toward the seat.

If this wasn't my last baby, I definately would consider this.

Yes! We have the companion (it's what we used with dd) and will use it again. I think the rebound bar is a very important safety feature.

The other seat with the bar is one of the Maxi Cosi seats. None of the evenflos have it.

-Angela

[clutterbug]

Originally Posted by alegna

Yes! We have the companion (it's what we used with dd) and will use it again. I think the rebound bar is a very important safety feature.

The other seat with the bar is one of the Maxi Cosi seats. None of the evenflos have it.

-Angela

Just so I'm clear on what it does...it keeps it from smushing babe into the back seat after initial impact, right? Isn't this why Britax recommends you use the Versa-Tether for rear facing? That's what we did until we turned DS around a couple of months ago...the seat can't move toward the back of the car because it's tethered to the car frame toward the front. but maybe that puts more of the force onto baby's head? I guess I will have to go to Britax website to see if they're replacing this feature with a rebound bar...hmm.

[Steve's Wife]

Originally Posted by bluepetals

I liked our bucket seat, and we used it right up till DS was at the height/weight limit for it, although we quit carrying him in it to and from the house once spring came, he was too heavy in that thing! I loved being able to get him securely fastened in the seat in the comfort of the house, where you could get him up on a table or the couch and gett a good angle on making sure everything was fasted "just so". And as PP have said, in the winter it was great cause he could be well covered against the cold before we headed out the door.

Originally Posted by alegna

The infant seats (buckets) are really the safest for newborns. We used dd's for about 4 months before switching her to a convertible. We will use it again for the new babe.

We rarely took it out of the car. So that part wasn't an issue.

-Angela

Yep, that's why we used one. This time around I probably will leave it in the car most of the time since the baby will be born in the summer, but then again, I would just be putting the baby in a hot carseat (yuck). It was great for a winter baby. We didn't use snowsuits, just one of those nice bunting things that fits over the whole seat w/o interfering with the seatbelts. Perfect! Plus DD coudln't be transfered to a sling w/o waking, and she always fell asleep in the car, so we would leave her in the seat until she woke up, and then remove her.

[alegna]

Originally Posted by bluepetals

Just so I'm clear on what it does...it keeps it from smushing babe into the back seat after initial impact, right? Isn't this why Britax recommends you use the Versa-Tether for rear facing? That's what we did until we turned DS around a couple of months ago...the seat can't move toward the back of the car because it's tethered to the car frame toward the front. but maybe that puts more of the force onto baby's head? I guess I will have to go to Britax website to see if they're replacing this feature with a rebound bar...hmm.

Correct- the rebound bar is on their infant seat- the companion. It will help do the same thing that the RF tether does on their convertible seats.

So infant seats don't tether RF- they can have a rebound bar.

Convertible seats can tether RF (some)- they don't have a rebound bar.

They're not changing anything.

hope that helps!

-Angela

[thismama]

If you all keep posting like this, this thread is going to get that red mailbox thingy next to it and the views are going to go way up. And folks will open it expecting drama and find... a discussion on the Britax rebound bar vs. tether.